Greenwood/Elk columns

September 1 ~ November 3, 1994

September 1st.

Lolli and I attended Ramon's 50th Birthday party, pot-luck and dance at the Greenwood Community Center last Saturday evening. It was the kind of Greenwood/Elk party that this community is noted for; a big group of local folks, tables sagging with a great variety of foods highlighted by abalone and Ling cod direct from Steve Sinclair's kayak to Emu stew from the Rusty Gates zoo. Among the desserts was featured a large sheet cake decorated in frosting, picturing Ramon riding his mule surrounded by fifty candles. Ramon blew them all out in one breath while the band played and gathered friends sang happy birthday. Then the band cranked it up, folks kicked off their shoes and got down to some serious dancing. Charlie and Rosie dancing with Serena between them, Joel Waldman dancing with his youngest daughter draped around his neck, "short people" on roller skates, zooming in and around the dancers, teenagers running in and out the doors, pre-teens riding bicycles round and round the Community Center, Norm deVall over in the dark hacking away at the turkey he brought a wee bit late, the dining tables being put away when the dancers took to the floor. Controlled chaos and everything, just right. Ramon ought to have a birthday more often. The Courtney's are looking for a few good chickens to help build the Central Elk Exit for the Information Highway. Computer phobics to nerds are encouraged to put on the feathers for a good cause.

Help is needed to strut in the Great Day in Elk Parade and work in the CHICKEN BINGO BOOTH.

If you are lucky enough to pick where the "bucks drop" you will win a full day sail aboard Courtney's 40-foot sailboat along the beautiful Mendocino Coast; even past Elk if you want! If that isn't enough you can spend the night anchored out in Cuffey's Cove.

For those who are allergic to the sea, you will receive a cash prize instead. All proceeds will go to placing Elk on the Internet by way of a self-serve computer center nestled within the Greenwood Community Center.

We need your support, skills and participation. Play Bingo for bucks this great day in Elk and we will all be winners.

Call Bill Courtney at 877-3304 and tell him you want to help put on this benefit to get the Elk Computer Center off the ground.

This just in from Jane Corey.

"Community Dance. This is so Great! Why don't we do it more often?

Dancing is a passion for many of us. You may have been swept into a new kind of dancing at a party, wedding, or fair and been eager to try it again. We want you to join us in creating a regular time and a place for sharing traditional dance forms.

This fall there will be monthly dances at the Greenwood Community Center. Each month we will feature a particular dance tradition. Local musicians will perform for our dancing enjoyment. All dances will be taught. We will focus on presenting dances easy enough for everyone to enjoy. We hope that everyone, beginners and veteran dancers, will come out and discover the pleasure of these traditional dances.

Our dance series will start on Saturday, September 3rd, Labor Day Weekend. Our first dance will feature Michael and Leslie Hubbert, and Judy Stavely-Kelly. This evening will be a sampler of dances. We will do some early American circles, contras, Greek line dances, and possibly a little Italian and Cajun. Teaching dances for the evening will be Jane Corey and Kris Curl.

Saturday October 1st, Susan Raphael and Michael Brennan will play Greek and Bulgarian tunes. Jane Corey will teach simple line dances to this hypnotic music.

Saturday November 5th, contra dances with Kris Curl calling dances to Early American tunes played by David Faulkner on fiddle and Cynthia Faulkner on piano.

Saturday December 3rd, french music played by Debbie Dawson, Vickie Yancey and friends. Get ready for Hurdy gurdy and accordion, simple line dances and figure dances.

For more information, contact Jane Corey 877-3330 or Kris Curl 877-3305. September 8th More sure signs that summer is coming to an end.

The Roadhouse Cafe has returned to "winter hours". They are now open Thursday through Saturday 8:00 until 2:00, Sunday 8:00 until 1:00.

The Elk Store winter hours are now 8:00 until 6:00 every day of the week. They were open on weekends until 7:00, during the summer. By the way. Ben and Tawny celebrated their one year anniversary of Elk Store ownership the 30th of August. Thanks guys; great job.

And finally, I have slunk out of semi-retirement to man the pumps and glare at the remaining tourists at the Elk Garage as of September 1.

To prepare for the event, I visited Mitch the Barber in Mendocino the day before and told him to make me look like Ted Galletti. That and a pair of cheap shoes from "Pain Less" in Fort Gagg and I was all set.

I arrived at the garage September first at 8:30 am and staggered from the premises at 6:30 PM. Now I remember why I was so glad to get out of there last spring but, being at the Elk Garage again does put me more in touch with what is happening around our wee village.

Around ten or so, a call came in for the Elk Volunteers to respond to a flipped-over urchin boat north of town up around Bill Courtney's. Away they go and when they return I find out that it was local urchin diver Miles Clark's boat. The Coast Guard helicopter plucked Rick Cruz (Miles' tender operator) from the water while the Elk Volunteers helped Miles up the cliff face; he had swum in from the boat. Neither were hurt (they were wearing survival suits). Later the boat was righted and taken to Albion and then trailered home, water-soaked but everything intact except for one broken window.

Late in the afternoon, two guys came in on motorcycles for gas. It is folks like these that make the job most interesting. They were from Germany and were riding Moto Guzzi's, one bike ten years old and the other twelve years old. Both bikes had side cars but not for passengers, each carried a coffin sized metal box which contained all their gear for camping. Strapped all over were five gallon gas cans and spare tires. Extra driving lights were mounted in front. One side car had solar panels. Both riders wore bug stained black leathers from head to foot and their helmets looked like they had been through a war. I had to ask them some questions before they got away.

They started from Germany four months ago. They went east! Russia, Siberia, Mongolia, China, probably not in that order but I don't have a world map handy. Anyway, when they finally reached the coast they loaded the bikes onto a ship and sailed to L.A. Now they are heading for Canada. They plan to go up the west coast of the Rockies and down the east side, back to Route 66 (down around L.A), then east to our east coast, then home to Germany in about another two months. They said that gas in Russia cost twenty cents a gallon.

I asked them how the bikes are holding up. They said fine.

Bob asked them what they did for parts. They said they don't need any parts!

It's folks like these that I can get excited about. More power to them.

I meant to mention the great band that played at Ramon's fiftieth birthday party but I couldn't remember their name. I called around at the time I was writing last week's column but nobody was home. Since then I find that their name is "Silver Fox". Local ace Dean Pederson is their drummer. They were very danceable. Rock solid rhythm and blues. If you need a hot band for your party give Dean a call.

Great Day is upon us, the Twentieth Annual. Can you believe it! Everything starts at high noon with our wonderful parade. We tie up Highway one for about an hour and then get down to serious business at the Greenwood Community Center. Come on out for a wonderful time, one of the best parties on the coast.

I'm sorry to learn that Christiane McLees is moving on to other things. She was my fourth editor at the Beacon in the seven and a half years I have been pounding out my "weakly" column. Now I have to train another one. It isn't easy to get them to put up with me and my tendency to fax in at the last possible moment from some god-forsaken place in the Yukon or Colorado outback. Christiane was most gracious and forgiving. I look forward to seeing her around town and wish her well.

Well, I'm turning this column in early because of Labor Day weekend. Pump the gas Friday and then Lolli and I are heading over to Davis to watch Eddie fall out of airplanes Saturday. They are going to be doing some "Sixteen Ways". That means sixteen folks fall out of airplanes at the same time and then link up and fall together for a while. Pretty exciting. Then, Saturday evening, Ed and Suzanne, Lolli and I are heading into the Mendocino National Forest to camp and poke around. We are going in past Stoneyford, over by Williams and will probably come out around Lake Pillsbury. Lolli and I have done it before but this will be a first for Ed and Suzanne. Pretty remote country over around there.

September 15th.

The Twentieth Annual Great Day is history, of course there is some controversy over whether it really was the Twentieth or not but, close enough. We were all somewhat concerned several days before the event because the weatherman kept hinting about rain. As Great Day drew closer, there was talk of rain in Crescent City and it was moving south towards Arcata, headed our way. We need the rain but...

Not to worry, Great Day woke to a sparkling day and by noon, and the start of the parade, it was a beauty.

I was lockwired to the Elk Gas station pumps but Bob released me long enough to be "Pilot Cow" for the parade to help the tourists, ever in a rush to get to Mendocino, find their way around our festivities. Smoky the Bear and the CDF crew were on hand to toss out candy. Nog Johnson's great whale was in the parade, the Elk fire truck, Bobbie Beacon's fire truck, and the Greenwood Civic Club had their version of early Greenwood School on the back of the Elk Garage flat bed truck; Prue Wilcox banished to the dunce seat. Bridget Dolan's Pub had a marching band made up from their staff. Ellen Saxe's pre-schoolers were in the parade, Lloyd Sinclair pushed a Odysea Ski through town, Peter Talbert peddling his recumbent trike, pulling his solar powered mini-habitat. Steve Heckeroth in his electric Volkswagen car. John and Toby Ross on their horses, and the wonderful Cal Aggie Alumni Marching Band, this time fifty-six strong! It took about an hour and a half to get the whole shebang through town, much to the delight of the crowd. They all disappeared around the corner and up Lousia Street to the community Center and I returned to the pumps.

I caught up with the festivities around six thirty and dinner was starting into full swing. I was told that the afternoon festivities had gone well and that there were no major glitches. The Cake auction went well, the Crouching Beaver had sold out, Loraine Toth's weenie stand (painted by Jessie McGary) had sold out, the bar was doing a land office business. Folks were finally relieved that the designated chicken at the Chicken Bingo Booth had finally done its thing. The one hundred dollar bill had been plucked from the top of the greased pole by one of the crew from Nog Johnson's whale float.

The inside of the Greenwood Community Center was beautifully decorated by Matt Roland and has seldom looked better. The teenagers were waiting on the dinner tables, one per table, and were providing great service which their tip containers reflected. Lolli, our friend Suzanne and I finally found some seats and joined the crowd for some fine food; barbecued pork and chicken, salad, corn on the cob and dessert.

About eight o'clock the Aggie Band showed up again in the parking lot, in front of the Community Center, and entertained the crowd. To me this is always one of the most magical times of Great Day, to have this great band playing their heart out in our dark little village by the light of the quarter moon setting over the ocean. Folks dancing and bobbing around while the horn section weaves in and out among us. What a fun group. This year some of the members of the band flew in from as far away as Illinois and Michigan, one guy had just returned from Washington D.C! I believe this is their ninth year of playing for Great Day. They finished their last song, the Aggie Fight Song, and filed away into the night to the beat of muted drums, back through the gate to Rafferty's back yard and their temporary tent city. By noon Sunday they would be mostly gone.

Now back into the Community Center for the Mighty T-Bones to dance the night away. What a party!

Sunday morning I arrived at the Community Center, searching for news, just in time to help wash dishes. The usual diehards were out in force and almost had the whole community center back in ship shape. Even some guests from Germany, visiting Charlie and Rosie Acker, had been roped into clean-up duty.

The Town of Elk Thanks:

Petaluma Poultry Processors, Harvest Market, Corners of the Mouth, Gowan's Oak Tree, Mendosa's, Thanksgiving Coffee, Al Weaver, and the Local Bakers of Elk for their generous donations and discounts for the Great Day Dinner. And especially thanks to all the folks up and down the coast and up in the hills who came out and made this one of the best Great Days ever.

Now we can kick it into neutral and coast towards winter, the return of Bill Edison from Africa the only bump in the road.

September 22nd.

While leaning against the gas pumps I learned a few things...

Del Wilcox tells me that the last meeting of the docents of the Greenwood State Beach Visitor Center produced a couple of items of interest for the general public. Now there are nine local docents who greet visitors and mind the store. The visitor center museum has been open for the summer months on Saturdays from 10 AM - 1 PM and Sundays from 10 - 12 AM. At the end of October, the place will be closed for the winter. A formal Open House will be held on November 12.

All the docents report similar tourist reactions to the displays at the center. They like the presentations. Comments range from pleased to enthusiastic. Some recent written comments in the guest book are: "Most interesting", "Very nice", "Fantastic", "Very friendly and informative", and "Enjoyed our tour and trip into the past".

The docents have an office in the building which is still unfinished but usable. Ann Daniels and Sharon Mitchell have been organizing the genealogical information we have. Many of the visitors are looking for information about family members who lived in Greenwood. This information should be put in a computer. We also need a copy machine. Since the prospect of being able to buy these things from available moneys is slim, donations for this would be a great public service. Call Ann Daniels at 877-3370 or Sharon Mitchell at 877-3398. The visitor center is preparing to store and display artifacts, photos, etc. of historical interest, and money is needed to buy or build cabinets for their safekeeping. A small gallery is now available for use.

Persons with questions about the center's operation or becoming a docent should call Ann Daniels or Sharon Mitchell.

Local Goat Farmer, Ed Bird, pulled up to the pump for a fill-up and a quart of two cycle oil. He told me that the Apple Bowl football game over in Boonville between Mendo and Anderson Valley contained some exciting players from Greenwood/Elk. On the Junior Varsity Mendo team was Connor Bird, Jonah Steinbuck and Nova Perril who all did an outstanding job. On the Varsity Mendo team was Jacob Perril who did a lot towards leading his team to victory. Well done to all.

Ed also filled me in a bit on those two guys that show up every year to help tend "Baby Doc's" Bar for Great Day.

Ned Rubinstine, the bartender and wine steward for the dinner (remember the guy with the cast on his arm?), came out to visit Bill Edison one year and was drug into town to witness Great Day. Since then, every year, Ned takes the red-eye special on Friday night from Washington D.C., to San Francisco. He arrives in San Francisco and rushes up to Greenwood/Elk just to work Bill's bar. Then Sunday morning he leaves for the city and his return flight back east!

John Vitiver is a professional bartender in real life from San Francisco. He too drives up Friday night just to help run the show for Bill and then returns to the city. At the end of the night, he takes all the tips that have been left for him and donates them back to Great Day.

Just another couple of examples of what it is that makes Great Day so special.

Elsewhere in this paper you will find a list of contributors to Great Day in Elk to whom we once again say thanks.

The final tally of money generated by Great Day comes in at over ten thousand dollars! After expenses! The best we have ever done!

The money is for the Community Center and will go towards several things. Leading the list is a computer room that will be hooked up to Internet, the "Information Highway". Kids, teens and adults alike will find this to be quite useful for gathering information for school, business or general information.

Another idea being kicked around is a laundry mat. Al Fisher alerted the Community Center Board to the possibility of a washing machine that could be donated from the Catholic Point Arena Thrift Shop. That would be a great start. Many people in the area around Greenwood/Elk would be very happy to be able to do laundry without having to drive to Fort Bragg or Point Arena.

Just think, you could send e-mail while your clothes went round and round.

And finally, did you notice how comfortable your chair was while you were enjoying dinner at Great Day? Richie Pechner is on the board of Rodef Sholom Synagogue, down in Marin, and they bought new chairs recently. They were wondering what to do with their old ones and Richie said he knew just the place they could donate them to. Allan Green of Greenwood Vineyard loaned his truck and away they went. Now the Greenwood Community Center has one hundred and sixty, new to us, comfortable chairs which replaced those old iron-hard "Baptist" chairs! The only drawback being that boring meetings tend to last longer. Those old chairs really induced the squirms and cut things short.

September 29th.

October 1st. Community Dance in Elk.

Greek and Bulgarian line dance.

The newly organized Community Dance Series is showcasing local folk musicians the first Saturday of each month at the Greenwood Community Center in Elk. On Saturday October 1, it will be Greek and Bulgarian dance music. Jane Corey will introduce easy line dances. The monthly series hopes to continue to provide a meeting place for those who love to play music and those who love to dance. Admission: $5 adults, $2 participating children, little children free. Come! For more information call Jane at 877-3330.

Various folks called my answering machine to tell me about a sea lion on the Greenwood Beach. Of course, now that I am writing my column I can only reach their answering machine so my facts are pretty sketchy. Evidently there were two sea lions. The first one was found dead at the south end of the beach about a week ago. The kindergarten class from Greenwood School got to go see it and Lloyd Sinclair was the only one who could determine the sex because his "dad spends more time on the ocean than anybody's other dad".

The second sea lion was on the beach this week, straight out from the lagoon, and seemed sick. Sarah Summit, who works at the Elk Cove Inn went down on her lunch hour and took a look at it. It was a bit larger than a big dog, it had ears and was dark black with light brown spots on its back. She called Ken Hofer of Fish and Game and Ken called Mike Henderson of Marine Mammal Rescue of Anchor Bay. Marine Mammal Rescue showed up in the late afternoon with the park ranger and loaded it in a container and hauled it away for care. Steve Garner who watched the collecting of the animal said it became quite lively when they put it in the box.

Speaking of Steve Garner, he received four ribbons for his painting during the Boonville Fair. One of them was a first in, I believe, the portrait division, the others for seascapes.

Things change, and change has come my way. Saint Anthony's Point, where I have lived as the caretaker for nine years, has sold and I will be moving on. Where to and how far I don't know. I hope to still be associated with Greenwood/Elk and continue doing my column. I have written over 230,000 words about this wee village so far and I have always thought it would take at least a quarter of a million words to actually capture its essence. But maybe not. We'll see.

I gave up owning real property after my divorce. I had owned two homes during my married years and thought that was the way life would be but then experienced that major change and resolved to live more simply.

I lived with relatives for a time, then in apartments in Seattle and finally a small cabin out of town. Then the opportunity came to move to L.A., working for the Northrop Corporation. I lived in my 1967 VW bus in the Northrup parking lot. There were showers and a cafeteria at work. On weekends I went camping at Joshua Tree, Mojave, Los Padres National Forest. This lasted six months until the Northrop security force took notice. I then bought a fifteen foot trailer and moved into a trailer park over by El Segundo. Two years later I had had enough of the bright lights and big city. I moved to Elk. I rented a spot at the trailer court south of Elk. Then the caretaking job turned up and I lived at Saint Anthony's. 'Til now.

My current trailer is a 1959 Airstream. It works great. Easy to heat. Small enough to keep life simple.

The Community Center board has mentioned to me several times that they think it would be great if there was a caretaker at the Community Center. Someone to keep an eye on the place, maybe help out with the upcoming computer center, etc. It seemed that all systems were go until it was pointed out that you can't live in a trailer in the coastal view shed. Trailer habitat is discouraged now. Nothing like a trailer to muck up the pristine view.

Most of the time I feel like a regular person but every now and then I'm reminded that I'm a sub species. I recall how down in L.A. I would spend some weekends out in the desert. I had everything I needed. Food, water, transportation, a sleeping bag. Perfect. Then, when the weekend was over and I drove over the hill, back into the L.A., basin I would become surrounded by more and more fancy homes, BMW's and the hub-bub of Megalopolis life. The fancier it became the more shoddy I felt. But it was my choice. I could buy into the system, pay the mortgage, max the credit cards, get a life, or try to keep it simple. I went for simple but some times it gets complicated.

October 6th

So my phone starts ringing at six in the morning. Unfortunately, my knee-jerk reaction is to stumble out of bed, trip over the sleeping dog and lunge for it. The dog is howling, I can't find my glasses, I haven't got a stitch on and it is cold...hello?

It's Bill Edison.

How soon our peaceful summer has come to an end. It's Bill, calling from Martha's Vineyard. He is on his way. He will be in Elk Thursday. It's Bill ranting and raving about some idea of having a world series baseball game in Elk.

"Bill. Wake up. The strike is on. Didn't you get the news while you were on safari in Africa? It's over. Forget it." Click.

Thursday morning Bill comes driving into town, horn honking, foot on the brake. He's checking out the wind-burned, dried out "Field of Dreams" behind the Elk Garage. It looks like Kuwait after the ground war. Perfect. Next he is sticking up posters around town. Friday morning at the Roadhouse Cafe, he interrupts my hash browns and eggs to give me this "Important Missive".

"As most of you know the World Series has been canceled this year because of the greed of the baseball owners and overpaid ball-players. But baseball is more than a business - it belongs to all of us - and can be played anywhere for fun.

How about a Softball World Series in Elk? Such a game has been scheduled on our Field of Dreams this Sunday, October 9th at 2:00 p.m. Bring your bat and glove. It's for our finest ball players from ages 13 to 40. Those over or under the age limit can come and cheer and show the Moguls that baseball is alive and well in the heartland of America. Free ice-cream sundaes will be given out after the game at the Community Center for all that attend.

Bill Edison.

Swell. Just swell. Bill is back.

Can "Management" really force the players back onto the field with bribes of ice cream? Is it legal? Come to the wind blown, fog shrouded, Field of "In your Dreams" Sunday to find out.

Last week I wrote about the various moves and living situations I have experienced these last fourteen years. One little sentence was left out of that column for some reason. Where I was talking about living in L.A. and using the shower and cafeteria at work and camping on weekends? it was because I was "living in my 1967 VW bus in the Northrop Parking lot". That is why Northrop Security, after six months, discovered me and made me move out, I then bought the trailer, etc.

Yeah, I was depressed when I wrote that column and various folks commented on that fact but actually, things have turned out quite well. Magic Greenwood/Elk has come through again.

I am moving this evening. In fact, when I get through writing this column, I will pull the plug on coastal life. I am moving five miles up into the hills above Greenwood/Elk. I am going to become a ridge dweller! Sun! I am going to see the sun! Warm. I am going to get to take off my coat!

Actually eight different folks around here offered me a place to live. Pretty amazing and I am grateful to you all.

I am looking forward to being a ridge dweller and seeing what that aspect of Greenwood/Elk life is like. There are a lot of folks around here who are part of the Greenwood/Elk community, now I will get their point of view.

So, I'm packing up. How is it that I collect so much stuff even while living in a small trailer? Why is it so hard to throw books away? Will I ever read them again or am I just condemned to haul them with me for the rest of my life. One good thing. I have noticed that the older I get the less I remember. Some of these books I don't remember ever reading. I guess I will start reading through them again. And pottery. Don't ever have potters for friends. I can't possibly use all the bowls, cups, pots and dishes and yet they are too special to throw away. And my dads band saw. What can I do with my dads band saw? It's heavy too.

I called the phone company to tell them I was moving and wanted my number moved to my new location. First I had to go through the press one, press two routine for a while. Then I got several minutes of nice muzak. Then the lady came on the line and told me the computer was down. Call back some other time. Really inspires confidence in the "Information Highway".

Ah well. I'm out of here. I went up and checked out my new spot the other night. The dog and I camped out there in the ROADCOW. It was foggy at seven in the evening. By nine it was clear and the stars were out and it got cool. I happened to wake at three in the morning and it was warm and the crickets were singing. A slight breeze was bringing in the valley air. Really quite different than nights down on the coast. I'm looking forward to experiencing it.

October 13th.

Tawny and Peggy took the jump.

I'm not sure but I think Peggy and Tawny at the Elk Store are the first folks from the town of Elk to sky dive out of an airplane . Tawny's fortieth birthday was coming up October 7th and she wanted to do something special for it. She mentioned her dream to sky dive to me several months ago and I put her in touch with Ed McKinley. Now it's history.

Saturday morning I stopped by the store to ask them how it went. Tawny said it was awesome, especially once they were under canopy, the free fall part of it made it feel like she couldn't get her breath. She said it seemed odd to get into an airplane that had a door missing on the side and worse yet when they got to altitude and the instructor had her stand in front of the missing door and then told her to move out a bit further, but soon they were flying under canopy and it was quiet and serene, you could see everything; snow in the mountains, Lake Berryessa, the rice fields. Peggy's reaction was more delayed. She was still sorting it out in her mind. She said she woke up at three in the morning, after the jump and thought; "My god, what have I done?".

They showed me the video that was taken of their jump and I know it was something they will never forget. They did the accelerated tandem jump course, each with an instructor, at Skydance, at the county airport over in Davis. Congratulations, sky pilots!

After twenty-two years as the Elk Volunteer Fire Chief, Bob Matson has stepped down. He said it took him two years of trying to wiggle out of it. Bob has done an excellent job of it over the years and the town is grateful for his years of service. Now all he has left to do in his sudden spare time is provide twentyfour-hour a day towing service, run the Elk Garage seven days a week and provide emergency service for the Roadhouse Cafe when the water heater goes out, the drains back up or the Expresso machine goes on the fritz.

Charlie Acker is our new fire chief. Hail to the chief!

The Greenwood Pier Cafe opens this Friday, according to Isabel. She has been saying this for several weeks but this time it might actually happen. Kendrick has been tearing his hair out along with a wall that was just a wee bit mislocated and some concrete that didn't quite work out the way it was originally planned, but overall it is going to be spectacular and a real change from the way the old cafe was. Check it out.

Bill Edison reports;

"Elk's first World Series was a huge success. The American League, under the guidance of Jordin Williams beat the Nationals or Conor's Condors 17 to 16. The Condors rallied for six runs in the ninth inning, but it wasn't quite enough, leaving a man on third as the final out was made. Tim Fashauer hit two gigantic home runs over the barbed wire fence out in the weeds in the right field. The umpires claimed they were only ground rule doubles (only in Elk). Tim won the Most Valuable Player award; an autographed baseball signed by Dusty Baker.

A new World Series record was set when the oldest Grandfather in post season play, Ed Bird, made six errors in one game.

Joan Robison pitched nine innings for both teams, also a record.

The free ice cream sundaes were the biggest HITS of the afternoon. Thank you Kay Curtis and the Community Center.

The good news is - that baseball is alive and well in the pasture lands, where it's played for fun and not money."

Bill Edison.

Well, I'm settling into my new location, starting to get a feel for the place. Thirteen quail were pecking around outside my door the other morning. I herded about fifteen sheep with ROADCOW up the road on the way to the gate, the other morning. They wouldn't move off to the side for some reason but kept trotting on and on. They sure have stiff leg movements. Crickets sing in the evening and owls hoot at night and it is quiet, oh is it quiet. No traffic pounding by on the way to Mendocino, no log truck Jake brakes at five in the morning, no crash of the surf against the rocks, no calls from Bill at six in the morning (a benefit of not having my phone hooked up yet).

I built a little deck to help stop tracking in redwood fronds and I decided to do a major spring cleaning since everything was already in an uproar. During the course of cleaning and sorting I discovered where my spare roll of toilet paper went. I found it about ten feet from its previous location, all nicely shredded in a cubby hole under my bed. Probably the most comfortable mouse nest ever built. Being a pack rat myself I took the nest and left them a new box of Decon.

I'm having to learn to get more organized. It is a ten mile round trip to get some forgotten item from the Elk Store. I've been watching the new moon develop each evening. I finally learned that if it is lit on the right it is rising and if it is lit on the left it is leaving.

It is amazing what all one learns in the woods.

October 20th.

Our friendly State Park folks sent me a letter, maybe you got one too, announcing an upcoming meeting that will address the possible renaming of Greenwood Creek State Park and some other business on the agenda. I loved the welcoming paragraph...kind of sets the tone.

"NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the State Park and Recreation Commission, pursuant to authority contained in Sections 539, 5002.3, 5080.16, 5080.20 et al of the Public Resources Code, Section 11370 et seq. of the Government Code and pursuant to law, will meet on Friday, November 4, 1994 at 9:30 a.m. at the City Council Chambers, Civic Center, 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, CA."

Although the letter states that the renaming of our beach is on the agenda twice, it doesn't say what the name might be changed to. Could it possibly be they are pondering our repeated request, at meeting after meeting, to change it from Greenwood Creek State Beach to Greenwood State Beach?

What difference does that make you might ask? Well, the state park currently fronts, focuses, addresses, features, leads to, and sits upon the Greenwood Beach and headland, not Greenwood Creek. The tourists come to this state park to walk down to the beach and enjoy the ocean.

It seems so simple to me that it is a beach park and not a creek park, but then, what do I know?

Some folks in town think the reason the state parks folks keep calling it Greenwood Creek State Beach is because the state park folks have long range plans aimed at eventually acquiring Greenwood Commons for a campground and various properties around the park. In fact the Daniel's property, the Rafferty property (where Steve Garner lives), the Mullner property and Greenwood Commons east of the Highway 1 bridge are listed in the Parks proposal "book" under the Phase 2 and Phase 3 outline.

Like Joe Bob says, "Eternal Vigilance!"

A survey outfit has been measuring up and down Highway One through our wee village. I walked over to them finally and asked if they had found out where we are yet. They thought we were somewhere in California. I asked if they were getting things ready for the long promised undergrounding of power and phone lines in town. "Nope."

They are figuring out where the trench will go for the fiber optic cable. The trench will be about four inches wide.

Brace yourself, the information super highway is about to rip through town. I wonder if there will be any off ramps.

The Greenwood Pier Cafe almost opened on Friday. Saturday at One turned out to be the actual kick-off. In trying to describe the interior of the cafe, the closest image I can come up with is Miami Vice/New York Disco/ Reno Style. No matter what city the visitor/diner is from, they should feel right feel at home. Judy Hale has some of her large oils on the walls and it is a spectacular setting for them. The copper-topped tables are warm and inviting but it will take a staff of Brasso polishers to keep them looking sharp. The glass block divider with colored lights inside, the track lighting, the mirrors, the open ceiling...well, you have just got to see it. They are open for lunch and dinner seven days a week for starters.

Al Fisher, Dick Mitchell, Ed McKenzie and crew are redoing the fence at the Catholic Cemetery north of town. What was left of the old fence and the patches that had been added to it over the years have been removed and they are starting all over. The finished product will be a replica of what the original fence looked like in the good old days. How old? I asked Mary Berry about it and she said she only remembered a few bits and pieces of the original fence when she was a girl. Fortunately there are some old photographs around to give the workers a starting point.

Once a year the School Board meeting is held in Elk. Thursday, October 20th, the School Board will meet at the Greenwood School. One of the agenda items is the Albion School which, like Greenwood, will be a small (three room) school serving local children. The public is welcome to attend. For more information call Jane Cory at 877-3330

Greenwood School invites you to visit during "Focaccia and Art" October 27th 12:30 - 1:30. The children are donating art-work as a UNICEF fund-raiser. Jim Muto will help the children bake Focaccia in the "Crouching Beaver" at the Community Center. Come see some kid's art, visit, and sample some Focaccia. Bread will also be on sale as a Greenwood School fund-raiser.

October 27th.

I pledge allegiance to the Logo

of the multi-national businesses of the world

and to the lobbyists from which they came

One mega corporation, over all

with liberty to impose justice on YOU.

Oh no. Another nightmare. I wake up, turn on the light and take a peek at the clock. 4:30 am. I shut off the light, roll over and try to go back to sleep, except I get to thinking.

I get to thinking and my thoughts are sort of like dreams and they ramble along about various topics, things that have been on my mind lately, things like the up coming elections, stuff I have heard on the news, read in the papers, heard people say. How hopeless and confusing it all is, how convoluted it all is, how I'd rather go back to sleep for another two hours, but no. The elections are coming.

Wouldn't it be nice to just go back to sleep?

I try to, but I get to thinking about Hollister. Such a nice guy. He really is. I think of Hollister and I think about property rights.

I get to thinking about the rancher from down Manchester way who told me that he was born here. Lived here all his life. He is always surprised when-out-of state folks go on and on about how this is one of the most beautiful places they have ever seen He said he can't see it; the beauty of this place. "It's just the way it has always been. Don't mean a thing to me."

Or the owner of a logging company who was complaining about the cost of getting rid of tires at the dump. They wanted twenty dollars. "S--t! I just went and dug a hole with the loader and buried em."

The large land owner who said that those new age rabble from Hollywood ain't going to tell him what to do with his trees. They try to tell him what to do he will cut down every tree on his property and let them rot. "It's my place and my trees. I can do what I want."

The local business man who told me about how everyone on the coast had a chute in the backyard. Just dump the garbage in the chute and it went right down in the ocean. If you didn't have an ocean in the backyard, "well there are plenty of gullies and ditches around, dig a hole".

I remember how, back in Nebraska, we used to spread used motor oil on the driveway to keep the dust down.

Yeah, property rights. A man should be able to do what he wants on his own property. Get the govn'ment off our backs.

Consensus, all we need is consensus and a 5-0 board.

Charles Peterson. What's he ever done. He can't even work. All he does is sit around and think. All he worries about is the environment and those little people, you know, lesbians and hippies and mexicans and welfare cheats, tree huggers and homeless people and those big issues like mega corporations and waste streams and timber rules and facilitating diverse opinions and all that new age stuff. Meddling in areas we should leave be. Just too scary to think about.

Besides, who needs it. How many years can we continue to limp along with a 3-2 vote on the supervisor board? All that rangling and law suits. Why can't we all just agree to agree? Wouldn't the world be so much nicer and happier if we all just shook hands?

All we have to do is build the fence high enough. Get the best security alarms made. Have a bigger gun and a better lawyer than anyone else, sit in the corner, count our money and wait to die and go to heaven which, I'm told, is a really really nice place.

It's actually so simple.

Ah, I feel better now.

Now I can go back to sleep.

October 31st. Halloween update.

Bill Courtney called to announce that there will be the party at his place Halloween night to benefit the Elk Node. Donations at the door go towards computer stuff for the upcoming Community Center Computer lab. Live band, costumes, great time. The party starts after the kids Halloween stuff at the Community Center.

I called Kay Curtis to find out about the "kids stuff" at the Community Center. She wasn't home. I called Joan Gates who is also on the board. She said it will be the same, you know, as last year. Get the kids together at the Community Center, stuff them with food. Let them sit around and compare costumes. Send them out the door to go trick or treating. Enjoy the peace and quiet for a while. Bring them back with their sacks of candy and have them sit around on the floor and trade stuff and get sick. Send them home.

What time?

Oh, I don't know. Five, five-thirty, six. Sometime before it gets dark. Ask a parent in town that has small kids.

November 3rd.

Another missive from Bill Edison:

"Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

The Community Center will be open for teenagers at least once a month on Friday nights with some adult supervision. The first Friday will be November 4th from 7:30 to 11:30 PM. There will be a Ping-Pong tournament, basketball, board games and refreshments. Do bring your own tapes, so the old building will rock with your favorite music. Transportation is the responsibility of the parents and teenagers. The Community Center will be responsible for the teenagers only while they're on the Center's grounds. We will plan future teenage nights on November 4th, so come with ideas for having fun. Yes, you can bring a friend.

Yours truly,

Bill Edison and the Community Center"

Here is another announcement.

"The State Park Visitor Center will close for the months of November, December, January and February. The last day of this season to be open will be Sunday, October 30, 10-12 am. The Elk Docent Council has given many hours of volunteer time keeping the Center open. The Council enjoyed relating and explaining what we know or have learned of the colorful history of Greenwood and Cuffey's Cove. There is still much information and memorabilia yet to be acquired. We hope to have the Post Office Annex open to the public next spring. Thanks to all of you for your patronage and fine support. Your encouragement has been appreciated.

Open date is March 4, 1995, Saturday.

Prue, Del, Eric, Sharon, Al, Anne, Wallace, Joanne, Dorothy, Mary, and Lea.

If you know of anyone who would like to be a docent, please refer them to any of the above docents of the Elk Council."

And one submitted by Kris Curl:

"There will be contra dancing at the Greenwood Community Center, in Elk, on Saturday evening, November 5th, from 8:00 til 11:00 PM.

Musicians for the dance will be Michael Hubbert, Leslie Hubbert, and Judy Stavely Kelly. Dances will be taught and called by Kris Curl.

Come alone or bring your friends. Anyone who is interested in trying this traditional form of dance is encouraged to come.

Admission is $5.00. If you have any questions, you can call Kris at 877-3305 or Jane at 877-3330."

Here is another correction concerning my previous correction concerning the schedule at the new Greenwood Pier Cafe.

Breakfast in the form of coffee, Expresso, sticky buns, basically Continental style...seven days a week.

Lunch... seven days a week.

Dinner...five days a week, closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

I hope I am getting it right this time.

And, as long as I am getting caught up on corrections, I am now told that all that surveying that has been going on around town does indeed relate to the upcoming under grounding project, not to just the burying of a fiber optic cable.

The Greenwood Civic Club was busy, last Sunday afternoon, getting ready for a Halloween party at the Roadhouse Cafe in the evening. It looked like the trick or treating kids in and around town were going to be in for a real treat. I had another party to go that evening, so I didn't get to see the end results, but from what I saw, they were really doing it up right.

The Greenwood Community Church is up, standing on cribbing in preparation for its new foundation. It is always amazing how a building that size can be lifted as a unit. It is great to see the long awaited restoration project finally get off the ground, so to speak.

The November elections are finally upon us. I hope you all will take the time to get out and vote. It is a very interesting election year and I can't wait to see the outcome in our district, our state and our country, to finally see which way the overall mood of our country is going.

More wells and spring boxes are going dry up in the hills above town, various friends report, as they seek out ways to get water delivered. The little drizzle we had last week did nothing towards correcting the problem; soaking the ground to the depth of about a quarter inch. At least it did remind us of what it is supposed to look like.

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